PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick carried a football everywhere this week, high and tight, close to his heart, far from everything else.

“To breakfast, to the meetings, to lunch,” Vick said. “Everyone thought it was funny. But I didn’t. That’s how much I care about this team and that’s how much I care about our success and winning on Sundays. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I take care of my responsibilities.”

His responsibility-keeping, it is presumed, is fine, for there is no apparent danger of Vick losing his job. But he fumbled three times in Pittsburgh, lost possession twice, and saw the Eagles lose, 16-14, on a field goal as time expired.

So he took the ball everywhere in the NovaCare Complex this week, and Friday said, smiling, that there was a bounty on it, implying that if he’d fumbled in a hallway, in a meeting room, in the locker room, at a lunch table, it would cost him with his teammates.

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Yet as much as Vick tried to keep the issue frivolous, it has been serious, too. And while the Birds did enjoy some needling mileage out of Vick’s commitment, they were careful, too, not to overplay the opportunity.

That’s why the Eagles’ defensive players — while themselves dedicating added practice time to creating fumbles — were careful not to make too many suggestions to their offensive teammates, not even in a studied, helpful, been-there-done-that form.

“Honestly, at this level, you trust the other side of the football,” safety Kurt Coleman said. “There is no need for us to say, ‘You need to do this,’ or ‘You need to do that.’ Because that’s when fingers start to get pointed. If we see it, we know they see it. And you look at it, and it is just one of those things that happens.”

That’s been the nature of the sport — and it’s central appeal: Turnovers, random as they are, tilt games. But Vick has made 11 turnovers in five games, and while the Eagles close their practices to the press, they did not deny this week that they were working on ball protection.

By Friday, Andy Reid was about tired of the discussion. Thus, this post-practice conversation with the media: What has Vick done to work on ball security? “He’s hung onto the football.” Any drill in particular? “Just make a conscious effort of keeping it high and tight. Make sure he covers it in traffic.” Was that different than other weeks? “No, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Sunday at the Linc, the Eagles will go against the Detroit Lions. And Vick, for one, expects the ball to be well-protected.

“It’s kind of hard, but at the same time, you want to play naturally and let everything flow,” he said. “I always talk about being in the moment and being able to do the right things when you’re out there playing. It’s very important. You have to stay conscious and keep it in the back of your mind as far as what you have to do when you’re holding the football. I do it in the passing game because I can see down field, so I’ve been able to take care of that. But sometimes running with the football you have guys coming from everywhere.”

“We get paid to protect the football.”

So Vick protected one, all week, every day, everywhere.

Some teammates smiled. Others squelched them. Coleman, without necessarily naming names, agreed that opposing defenses are aware of which players have had recent fumbling problems, and are instructed to pounce.

“Oh, you are definitely going after it a lot more,” he said. “Your awareness turns up. That means that the person who has had the problem has to put a little more emphasis on it. At the end of the day, it just happens. It really just happens. You can have the greatest ball security and if someone just pops the ball out right — hits the crown of their helmet right on the ball — it’s just one of those things that happens.”

Mike Vick understands. So around the workplace, he made that clear — no matter who might have thought it was funny.

“At the beginning of the week, I just wanted to get a feel for the pigskin,” he said. “It wasn’t to put too much emphasis on it, just to continuously remind myself that I need to take care of the football.”